Lost
by Julia125
Summary: In an alternate timeline during the events of Awakening, Lucina finds herself facing off against her brother who has become completely lost to Grima.


Fire Emblem Awakening Short Story: Lost

Smoke rose into the air, making the sky dark and hazy. Fire burned down wooden structures and reached as high as buildings, sending sparks flying on the wind. Statues of Naga were shattered, lying in pieces on the ground collapsed on top of dead bodies and ash, while villagers ran around screaming, running for their lives from the oncoming army of risen. Thousands were already dead, their corpses littering the streets of the Halidom of Ylisse.

The capital's army was mostly destroyed, all of the soldiers fighting until the very end and dying while protecting their homeland. The few that remained still fought against the living dead, but without hope or any expectation to live through the catastrophe that they were suffering through. The wounded could not be helped, but only slaughtered by the undead that scourged the land.

Grima had already wiped through Regna Ferox and Plegia, leaving the Halidom as the only target left on the whole continent. His armies arose and scattered throughout the land, claiming every destroyed town and city for their lord. Soon, the whole realm was savaged, placed into Grima's claws of death. It seemed that almost nothing was left of what was once the great continent of Ylisse.

"P-please, have mercy!" a soldier cried, lying on the hard ground and reaching his hand towards the figure in front of him. His bloody arm shook as he gasped for air, coughing up blood between breaths. The hooded figure in front of him stood tall with a steel sword in his right hand, a tome in his left, only staring at the man as he struggled, and watching him suffer.

"Mercy is for the weak." He said, still looking in disgust at the dying soldier. "I believed in it once too. I was weak once, but I was naïve then. I've grown to be something greater, with a greater purpose. I no longer follow your pathetic kind." His voice was full of revulsion and he squinted at the man lying in front of him. "I've no need for your kind in this world anymore," he shifted the sword around in his right hand to get a better grip. "So I'm going to destroy it."

With that, he plunged the sword downwards into the man's skull, as the warrior's arm dropped to the ground and remained still, just like the rest of his body. Blood drained out fast from his head, and soon surrounded the corpse, drowning the armor and fabric of his clothes in the dark, red liquid. The figure pulled the sword back and stood with it at his side, blood dripping from its blade.

He was standing in the capital building itself, which was now nothing but ruins. The wall had been broken in, leaving a giant gap in the side of the building. The young man stood on the bloodstained carpeted floor that used to be the long hallway leading to the throne itself. Now, however, nothing remained untouched. The throne was crushed under the collapsed ceiling, along with the banners and flags that once stood as symbols of peace and prosperity.

The torches still hung on the walls, their flames flickering and waving wildly as if trying to escape from their sconces. Dark hallways led to other rooms of the castle, all of which stood ice cold and reeked with the scent of death. Outside of the noisome remains of the castle, the smoke rose high into the air clouding out the only view of the havoc and massacre. Still, the cacophony from the exterior could be heard from inside the ruins.

Pleased at the sounds of chaos and fear, the boy removed his hood and closed his eyes, listening to the calamity that he had caused. Just as he had reopened his eyes, he saw a shadow approach the long, torch-lit hallway, flashing from the lightning and reflecting onto the floor in front of him. He took a deep breath and waited a second before responding to the sudden appearance of a familiar face.

"I knew you'd come."

"Morgan! This has to stop!"

"You would never back down from a fight, no matter how thin your odds were of winning."

"Morgan! Listen to me!" The courageous girl stood at the large opening of the wall, Falchion gripped tightly by both hands. Her face was covered in blood, scarred and bruised from battle, as well as the rest of her body. Even her clothes were drenched in the blood of her dead allies, and Morgan could see that the blade of her sword was stained with the fluid as well. Her long, blue hair flew franticly in the wind, sticking to her face from the sweat and blood.

"You have to stop this right now! You don't understand what you're doing!"

"I don't understand what I'm doing? How foolish are you, Lucina? Of course I know what I'm doing; I'm ending your race."

"You wouldn't do this alone, Morgan. I know you! You're being influenced by Grima! He's doing this to you!"

"He's doing nothing to me! I chose this path, and I understand the consequences of what I'm doing. But now that I've chosen to follow Grima, I've realized just how foolish I've been. Thinking that my friends could save me? It makes me laugh just how daft I was. Just as much as you are now!"

Morgan smiled at the comment he made, seeing the anger boil up inside of Lucina. She gritted her teeth and furrowed her brow, staring straight back at her brother and trying to contain her frustration.

"What about your friends?! What about the people you loved; the people you cared for?!"

"You mean those worthless worms that I fought alongside?"

"They were no such things!"

"They were less!" The wind started to pick up and blow furiously around the tactician as he became irritated with Lucina's words. His hair flew in his face, over his right eye as he yelled back at his sibling, and his robe pulled at the back of his legs.

"They were pathetic! Useless! Worthless!"

"They were your family!" Lucina shouted back. The terrorizing screams in the streets started to get louder, as well as the clamor of swords clashing together, both filling the ears of each of the young siblings. They stared at each other from across the room, looking back into one another's furious eyes.

"It doesn't matter what they were." Morgan continued. "Whether they were my allies, my friends, or even my family, they're dead now and there's nothing you can do about it, Lucina. You can't bring back the dead! You can't bring back your father!"

"Enough!" Lucina cried. Being her brother, Morgan knew how sensitive she was when it came to her father's death. He knew that she loved him more than anything in the world, and would do anything to save him. But now, it was too late. Chrom was already dead, along with the rest of the shepherds. No one was left, except for the great lord's daughter.

Her eyes filled with tears as she watched her brother enjoying her pain. Tears streaked down her face, clearing small paths on her cheeks from the blood. She gripped her sword even tighter, knowing it was the only thing she had left of her father, and pulled herself together to confront her brother.

"See Lucina? Pathetic. Not even he could save you. In fact, he couldn't save anyone. This was destined to happen all along, everything has gone according to plan. All there is left to do, is to finish you off."

"Morgan, please," Lucina begged. "Please don't do this! Look around and look at what you've done! Open your eyes!"

"Open _your_ eyes!" he shouted back. "When are you going to realize that there's nothing left? Nothing left to live for, nothing left to die for! You're only standing in my way, so give up now Lucina. Don't resist, and I'll make this quick."

Lucina straightened herself up, knowing she was going to have to battle her brother. Releasing her firm grip, she almost leaned back as she looked at him, trying to understand that this was the only way she could reason with him. This was his only solution.

"Fine then," she said, pulling her hair away from her face. "I won't stand for this any longer. I've watched my mother turn against me and all her loved ones, I've watched my allies turn into risen, I've watched my friends be slaughtered, and I've watched my father die in front of my very own eyes. But I won't let you take this any further, Morgan. I'm not going to stand by and watch as you take another life, be it a friend or even mine. This ends here."

Morgan laughed at her as he shook his head.

"Do you still not see? Grima is inexorable! Even if you manage to kill me, Grima won't stop at anything, especially because of one puny, petulant, little girl."

"Save your breath, Morgan. I've no desire to hear anymore!"

"Very well," Morgan said, positioning himself into a ready stance.

At that very moment there was a din so loud that Lucina reached up to cover her ears. "What…" she began, but her eyes opened wide and her mouth fell open as she realized that the source of the noise was no other than the Fell Dragon. "Grima." She whispered to herself.

"Heh, yes, Grima!" Morgan said, raising his hands in praise to his master. "See Lucina? Your friends and father may be gone, but Mother's still here."

"Enough!" Lucina screamed again as she shot forward, lunging at her brother as fast as she could. He quickly evaded the sword by jumping to the left, swiftly shooting a bolt of lightning at Lucina. She had reflected it with Falchion, and swung the sword straight at her brother, but the blade clashed against his own. She forcefully pushed against it with all her strength, trying to overpower him. Face to face with him, Lucina could see the hatred in his eyes. His eyes were no longer the soft hazel that they used to be, but instead a dark and fierce red with long slits in the center.

"What have you become?" she asked as she gazed in horror at her own brother. Without a word, he forcefully pushed against his sword, sending the unprepared Lucina backwards, tripping on a pile of ruble. Morgan fired another blast of thunder at her, but she quickly dropped to the ground and rolled forward to evade it, just like her father had done when he fought Validar.

Once she caught her balance, she spun around and slashed the sword at Morgan. Unable to move away quick enough, the sword had swiped across his face, leaving an ugly gash on his right cheek.

"Ah!" he screamed painfully as he reached up to wipe the blood away, but hesitated and glared back at Lucina, who stood in shock at what she had just done. Although it was Morgan who had turned against her and even initiated the fight, she couldn't believe that she had just harmed her own brother. Her mouth fell open as she saw the bleeding tear in his skin, but forced herself away from her feelings for him. He was no longer her brother, but just his husk that was seemingly consumed by the influence of Grima.

Pushing her feelings aside, she stood up and charged at him, swinging her blade in an endless fury of attacks. However, Morgan was all to quick to either dodge or block them, and seemed to somehow have the advantage. He was smaller and quicker and apparently had learned some of Lucina's own moves from watching her before. He knew her methods of attacking and was aware whenever she was going in for a hit. Plus, he knew the right time to strike and always caught her off guard, making him a skillful opponent.

Almost every time Morgan swung his blade, Lucina was left with either another tear of her clothes or a cut on her skin. Even her armor was viciously scratched each time his sword sliced it. She fought back with all her might, using almost all of her energy just to swing her sword. Soon, she was exhausted and fell onto her knees. Her sword almost slipped from her sweaty hand, but she desperately hung on to it. Panting from exhaustion, she leaned forward to catch her breath.

A second later, Morgan fell to the ground as well. Weary and fatigued, he fell to his bruised and sore knees, dropping his torn book from his left hand. It seemed that both of the siblings were evenly matched, and had each fought to the point of exhaustion. Their arms had given out and their strength was failing them, but they both knew that they had to finish off the other. Still out of breath, Lucina spoke.

"Morgan… please… don't you see? You can't beat me, and I can't beat you. We… we need to stop,"

"You're still as foolish as ever… Lucina," he breathed. "You really want me to give in? You… you think the Fell Dragon will bow down… to some weak… and worthless… wretch? You still… have no chance… of winning."

Lucina lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Morgan." She said softly. "I've… I've failed you as a sister. I was… supposed to protect you, not let you fall into the hands of evil. Not let your innocent soul be corrupted by something so foul."

"You dare say that about my lord?!" Morgan almost shouted, becoming quite irritated. He gathered all of his strength to stand up and stood still for a second, glaring at his older sister. She sat a few yards away from him, still in the large hallway where their battle took place. "Face it Lucina," he said, as he took a couple steps forward, only carrying his sword, while his tattered book still sat in place. "You have nowhere left to run, nowhere to hide, and no one to save you."

"I'm sorry." She said again, as her eyes started to tear up. The tears made their way down her cheeks and from her chin, falling onto her pant legs below her face. As she cried, she quietly and slowly slipped her left arm to the hilt of her sword, grasping it with both hands, preparing for the right moment to strike. "This wasn't supposed to happen, none of this was… I was too helpless to stop it though."

"I don't want your pity." Morgan said, as he now stood in front of her, his sword still in his hands. He raised it up behind his head and prepared to kill the only person left standing in his way. "I just want to see you die." Just as he swung it down at her neck, Lucina had gathered all of her strength, and with both hands gripping her sword, countered the attack. In an instant, she swiped her sword to the side, disarming Morgan.

"Just know, Morgan," she began, looking him in the eyes and still crying. "You brought this upon yourself." She shoved Falchion forward, seeing that it slipped right through her brother's abdomen. His eyes opened wide as he looked down and stared at the blade that went through his body. Lucina quickly pulled it out and stood up, only watching as Morgan stood still, staring at the bloodstain grow larger and larger through his clothes. He stumbled back a few steps, before falling into Lucina's arms. She had rushed forward to catch him, but fell to her knees still gripping him tight. Her sword hit the ground and thumped against the thin carpet, as she held her dying brother.

He stared straight up at the ceiling and gasped for breath, both of his hands lying on top of the bloody wound. Tears were streaming down Lucina's face as she held him. It was hard enough for her to hurt him, but killing him seemed inconceivable. Her sore and sweaty hand reached up to his face and pushed his hair from his eyes. The wind softly blew against Lucina, blowing her cape up into the air as she scrunched her face up in a futile attempt not to cry.

"This… means nothing." Morgan murmured, wincing in pain. "My death… is only… a small dent… in Grima's power… He still has… plenty of time… plenty of risen… you won't live through this…" He gritted his teeth and boiled up inside from anger, realizing that his sister had won the battle after all. "Being beaten by you… is an insult!" He gasped.

Lucina only looked back at him. She didn't know what to say, but just wanted her brother back. She wanted Grima's influence on him to disappear, his mind to escape from its delusional and clouded point of view. She wanted Morgan to look at her with his gentle eyes and smile like he used to, laugh with her, at least look her in the eyes and love her. The tears continued to roll down her face as she gazed at him, though.

"Morgan, I… I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I… I miss you! Please, snap out of it! Look at me one more time the way you used to! Just come back one more time, please!"

Morgan's left hand fell to the ground, covered in blood from his large wound. He took a couple slow breaths and steadily started to close his eyes. Lucina could see that their color was fading, but only being drowned out into a dark gray. They seemed expressionless, as he stared back at her. Hoping for him to say something to her, at least to say that he was sorry, was all she wanted. But it didn't matter; the old Morgan was gone, just like Robin before him. His soul had been demolished and swallowed up by Grima.

Lucina started bawling as she leaned down and pulled his still body closer to her chest. She closed her eyes and squeezed him tighter, realizing that he was the only thing she had left, but now he, too, was gone. As she wept over his body, she could see his lips struggling to say something. She raised her head and kept quiet, listening to his last words.

"Lucina…"

"Yes?"

"You… you have no chance… of winning... against Mother…" His lips closed and his eyebrows lifted from their furrowed position. His chest stopped moving and Lucina felt his lifeless body become slightly heavier. She hung her head, realizing that she couldn't even save her brother during his last breaths. He was completely and utterly gone.

As she cried, she looked out at Ylisse, watching the smoke rise higher and higher into the air and fire burn down whatever remains were left of the Capital. The screams had stopped and it became silent, except for the sound of clashing lighting and crackling fire. In the distance, between the clouds of smoke and pillars of destruction, Lucina could see six bright, pink eyes emerge from darkness and heard the sound of a horrifying and deafening roar.

She sighed as she clutched her brother's body tighter. "I know, Morgan." She whispered. "I know."


End file.
